This study reviews the current status of engineers and technicians in the manufacturing sector, the supply-demand prospective, and relevant institutions, in order to propose basic directions for future industrial workforce policies.From the 1960 to the 1970s, Korea’s economic development was partly driven by the cheap and ample workforce coming from agricultural regions. However, as the government started to promote heavy industries after the 1970s, the economy saw a shift from labor-intensive industry to capital and technology-intensive industry, necessitating the development of measures to nurture a skillful industrial workforce and utilize idle manpower.From a policy perspective, the government is not paying enough attention to nurturing technicians and engineers with college degrees, in particular when compared to policies aimed at skilled scientists and engineers, as well as technology professionals. Moreover, existing support programs for human resource development are insufficient compared to capital goods investment. Colleges and universities are also failing to supply quality workers that meet the expectations of companies.In order to solve these issues, the government’s human resource development policies should be directed towards nurturing quality and skilled technology and engineering professionals, rather than increasing the volume of the workforce, which is already sufficient. Moreover, the government should play a bigger role in nurturing skilled technicians and engineers since private sector-driven efforts have limitations because of external effects inherent in education